By Morris Phillips

These days, winning at Coors Field for the Giants is nearly impossible.

After landing in a huge hole–in large part due to Madison Bumgarner’s subpar outing–the Giants staged a huge rally, only to fall short in a 9-8 loss.

Are you counting? The Giants have lost 16 of 18 in Denver, and a number of those have been similar to this one. In fact, three of the six losses at Coors Field this season have been by one run.

“It was a shame we couldn’t hold on,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. “We really came on strong at the end.”

The Rockies put the Giants in the earliest, conceivable hole, as the first four batters of the day reached and scored, capped by Trevor Story’s two-run shot. But Madison Bumgarner’s hard to shake–even under these circumstances–and he strung together three, consecutive zeros before trouble surfaced again in the fifth.

In that frame, Story struck again, his second home run of the day putting the Rockies up 7-2. Afterwards, he admitted he just wanted to get a pitch to elevate with a pair of runners aboard. But Story’s tale wasn’t to be sold short, as he took Bumgarner deep into the left field seats.

“I got down 0-2 pretty quick, and then after that I was just trying to battle, and just trying to get something up in the air to get the guy home,” Story explained.

By current Giants’ standards, their response was, well, giant. One run in the sixth, two in the seventh, and three in the eighth gave the Giants a lead, and the run total (6) was more than the club had managed to score in its previous 25 innings. Home runs by Alen Hanson and Chris Shaw came with two outs in the eighth, and Shaw’s first big league homer broke a 7-7 tie.

Enough dramatics to earn the Giants a satisfying win? Sure, if they were somewhere other than Denver.

In the bottom of the eighth, the Rockies dented normally reliable Tony Watson with three hits, capped by pinch-hitter Noel Cuevas’ two-run single. For the rookie enjoying a September call-up, the moment could not have been bigger.

“You always look for that moment when you can get an opportunity,” Cuevas said.

Wade Davis didn’t give the Giants an opportunity to answer, striking out the side in the ninth for his 38th save. The win temporarily got the Rockies even with the Dodgers atop the NL West, pending the outcome of games scheduled for Monday evening.

The Rockies have never won the division crown in their 26 seasons of existence, with all four of their previous playoff appearances as a wild card.

The Giants have dropped six, consecutive Labor Day contests and are three games below .500 with 23 games remaining.